Cryptocurrencies had a great April. ETH price rose by 50% while Bitcoin, Ripple, and Litecoin rose by more than 20%. In contrast, the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and gold rose by 12%, 10%, and 8% during the month.
Cryptocurrencies gained in April...
There are four main reasons why the price of cryptocurrencies rose in April. First, the overall mood in the market was positive as evidenced by the rising in stocks. Second, there was no major bad news in the industry such as hacking or regulations. Third, crypto enthusiasts are excited about the upcoming bitcoin halving and Ethereum 2.0 protocol that will be launched in the coming months. Finally, the low interest rates and unconventional monetary policy has made more people move to digital currencies.
Halving...
The biggest crypto-related news in May will be about halving. Halving is a process built within the bitcoin network that reduces the number of bitcoins awarded to miners. When it happens, the blocks that miners are awarded are cut into half. As a result, the supply of the digital currency is reduced, which in theory should help raise prices. The past two halving events took place in 2012 and 2016 while the upcoming one will take place on May 12.
In the past, the price of Bitcoin tends to rally ahead of halving. The same is also true for other currencies like Litecoin and bitcoin cash that have halving in their system. As bitcoin price rallies, other digital currencies rise as well.
However, this action tends to fizzle after halving happens as market participants sell the news. Therefore, while bitcoin price may continue rallying, and possibly test $10,000, it is also likely that the price will start weakening after halving happens.
More digital currencies...
The coronavirus pandemic has led to significant changes in the way people operate. Most countries have encouraged their citizens to use digital platforms for payments. The goal is to prevent the transmission of the disease through physical cash. At the same time, more central banks are now starting to increase their focus on creating digital cash. In China, the PBoC has been creating the digital yuan since early 2019. While the project has had several delays, there is a likelihood that it will make an announcement about it in May. Meanwhile, in Sweden, the Riksbank has said that it is developing an e-krona, which will be the digital version of the current currency. Other central banks could announce these measures as countries start to reopen.
ETH 2.0 countdown...
After Bitcoin halving happens, enthusiasts will be focusing on ETH 2.0, which is a new release that will happen in July. The goal of this release will be to remove some of the biggest problems that exist in the Ethereum network especially on speed and scalability. This new release will help solve these problems by introducing a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism and sharding. The proof-of-stake mechanism will help reduce the need for mining equipment while sharding will help boost speed of transactions. According to Vitarik Buterin;
“Imagine that Ethereum has been split into thousands of islands. Each island can do its own thing. Each of the islands has its own unique features and everyone belonging on that island, i.e. the accounts, can interact with each other and they can freely indulge in all its features. If they want to contact with other islands, they will have to use some sort of protocol.”
In May, most physical crypto-related events will not take place because of the coronavirus pandemic. Still, there will be several virtual events during the month. The biggest one will be the annual Consensus event that is held by Coindesk. The virtual event will happen on May 11 to May 15. Some of the key speakers will be Akon, Changpeng Zao of Binance, and Sheila Warren of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Another event will be the Crypto Asia Summit that will happen online between May 18 to 23. The key speakers will be Roger Ver, Da Hong Fei of NEO, and Zac Prince of BlockFi.
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